I Stand Amazed Mark: Who Do You Say That I Am? Mark 1:21-45 Pastor Josh Black August 31, 2014 What gets you excited? What gets you excited? You can tell when someone is excited about something. Especially in the way they talk. Their eyes brighten up. They come alive. They start using demonstrative body language. They don’t always talk like this. But some things are so amazing they have to share it. For some it’s sports. Football season is here and you can bet Pastor Jeremy is going to be talking about the Denver Broncos. For some it’s a particular TV show. Right now my mother-in-law is really excited about a show on National Geographic called Dr. Pol. It’s a reality show about a veterinarian in Michigan. In less than 24-hours I’ve heard her tell three people about this show. After telling me about it, she said, “It just doesn’t get any better than this!” I get excited about local restaurants. And I love to tell people about the newest dive I’ve found. One of my favorites right now is Gorditas Durango across from North High. It has the best gorditas in town. The gordita pouches are made fresh on site. And although I have no idea what the meat is they put inside these pouches, I know I love it! When we get excited about something, we love tell people about it. And if enough people spread the news to enough people, anything can become famous. What gets you excited? What do you tell people about? There’s nothing wrong with getting excited about the things I’ve mentioned. And there’s nothing wrong with enthusiastically telling people about them. But I have a hard question for us to consider this morning. Do you get excited about the gospel? Do you light up in amazement when you think about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? And are you itching to tell people this good news—to spread the fame of Jesus to everyone you know? In our text this morning we encounter a number of people who are amazed by Jesus. And they want to tell others about him. But they’re only amazed by his miracles—his healing and casting out demons. Jesus is fine with people being amazed about him healing their immediate and temporal needs. But he also wants them to hold off spreading the news about him until they come to understand the main reason he came—to suffer and die for our sins. That’s the main reason to be amazed by Jesus. Turn in your Bibles to Mark 1. For the last two weeks we’ve been in the Gospel of Mark. We’ve been considering two main questions: who Jesus is and how we should respond to him. As Jesus begins his ministry he begins preaching and teaching, but his teaching is accompanied by miracles. Jesus wants to teach people who he is, but we learn who Jesus is best in the context of what Jesus does.1 And we learn how to respond to him best by examining how others in the Gospels 1 Edwards, James R. The Gospel According to Mark. The pillar New Testament commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 2002. 2 respond to him words and deeds. So let’s look at Mark 1:21-45 as we continue to examine who Jesus is and who we should respond to him. Mark 1:21-452 2And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. 29And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Our text this morning has a number of different stories in it. And there are a number of common elements in each of these stories. ▪ First of all, in each of these stories we see Jesus taking care of people’s problems—whether it’s exorcizing a demon or healing a sickness. ▪ We also see that in each case people are amazed by Jesus and they want to tell others. But Jesus commands people to be quiet about his ministry. I could walk you through each of these stories individually. But instead of going verse by verse, I want to point out three truths that are taught here. I think this will help us to see more clearly who Jesus is and how we should respond to him? 2 Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® unless otherwise noted 3 So to divide our time this morning I want to ask three questions. ▪ What do all the healings and exorcisms teach us about Jesus? ▪ What does the specific story of Jesus healing the leper teach us about Jesus? ▪ What is the significance of silence in these stories? Or why does Jesus command people to be quiet and how does that inform our response to Jesus? JESUS HAS AUTHORITY. First, what do all the healings and exorcisms teach us about Jesus? They teach us that Jesus has authority. Remember how Jesus ministry begins? “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel’” (Mk 1:14-15). Jesus ministry starts with preaching the gospel. He’s telling people who he is and why he came. He is the Christ, the Son of God (cf. 1:1). And his coming marks the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the king. Jesus has authority. But Jesus doesn’t just preach and tell people he’s king. We also learn who he is through what he does. We see that he has authority through his teaching, through casting out demons, and through his healing. His teaching shows us he has authority with the Scriptures. Look at verses 21-22. “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” But while he’s teaching a man with an unclean spirit comes in. The unclean spirit knows exactly who Jesus is. Look at verse 24. The demon says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But it’s not just words that demonstrate he’s the authoritative King. Jesus shows us that he has authority when he casts out the demon. He shows us that he has authority over Satan and his demons. When he says to the demon, “Be silent, and come out of him,” the unclean spirit came out (vv.